Cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger

ABSTRACT

A cover-replaceable hanger includes a hanger body mountable to a fixture surface by a screw and a cover releasably attached to the hanger body. The hanger body forms an anchoring hole for receiving the screw to fix the hanger to the fixture surface and a positioning hole and a pair of snap-on notches. The cover forms a positioning pin receivable in the positioning hole of the hanger body, two clamping walls spaced from each other for receiving the hanger body therebetween and upper and lower support blocks for abutting against the hanger body. The back face of the cover also forms a flange extending along a circumference thereof and forming an opening that is defined by opposite ends of the flange and each end forming a snap-on projection engageable with the corresponding snap-on notch of the hanger body to releasably secure the cover to the hanger body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wall-mounted hanger; and in particularly to a cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger wherein a cover is releasably attached to a hanger body in a precisely positioning manner by a pair of snap-on projections formed on the cover and releasably engageable with corresponding snap-on notches defined in the hanger body to effect efficient and releasable mounting/replacement of the cover and manufacturing of parts with different material to realize cost reduction.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

A conventional wall-mounted hanger is often provided with a decorative cover and both the hanger and the cover are made of the same material in an integral form, such as zinc alloy and copper alloy. However, the costs of these metal alloys are increasingly raised recently and this makes the manufacturing costs of the hanger increased. This is negative to the marketability of the hanger. Since the cover provides an important function of decoration or aesthetics and since conventionally, the cover is made of the same material as and is integrally formed with the hanger body, reduction of the manufacturing costs of the hanger is not possible for the conventional hangers.

Further, since the cover is made integral with the hanger body, it is not possible for the general consumers or the manufacturers to replace the cover for different decoration. Once the decoration of the cover is selected, there is no way to change it. This is not appealing to the modern consumers who often wish to change decoration from time to time.

Thus, the present invention is aimed to overcome the above discussed problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger comprising a hanger body positionable on a surface of an external fixture and having a first section mountable to the fixture surface by a screw and a second section forming a hook, and a cover releasably attached to the hanger body. The hanger body forms at a location away from the hook an anchoring hole for receiving the screw and a positioning hole for positioning the cover with respect to the hanger body and a pair of snap-on notches in opposite edges of a rear surface of the hanger body opposing the fixture. The cover has a back face on which a positioning pin, a pair of clamping walls, an upper support block and a lower support block. The back face of the cover also forms a flange extending along a circumference thereof and forming an opening corresponding in position and size to hanger body, the opening being defined by opposite ends of the flange. The ends of the flange form two opposite snap-on projections. When the cover is attached to the hanger body, the positioning pin is fit into the positioning hole, the snap-on projections releasably engage the snap-on notches respectively and the clamping walls clamp opposite edges of the hanger body with the upper and lower support blocks abutting against the hanger body. By means of the releasable engagement between the cover and the hanger body, the cover can be removed from the hanger body and a replaceable, and perhaps different, cover is re-attached to the hanger body.

Further, in accordance with the present invention, the cover is made separate from the hanger body and can be made of materials, such as plastics and bakelite that is resilient and elastically deformable, different from what making the hanger body, which is often made of for example zinc alloy or copper alloy so that the consumption of metal is reduced and the costs can be further reduced for market competitivity.

The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded vie of a cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger of the present invention taken from a rear side thereof;

FIG. 3 schematically shows the operation of mounting the cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger to a wall or a fixture surface; and

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but showing the mounting operation of a cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, a cover-replaceable wall-mounted hanger constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a hanger body 1, at least one fastener 3, such as a screw, for mounting to a wall, and at lest a decorative cover 2. The body has a lower section forming a hook and an upper section forming at least one anchoring hole 11 at a location away from the look for the extension of the screw 3. There may be a number of anchoring holes defined in the hanger body 1 for receiving the same number of screws 3 respectively to secure the hanger body 1 to the wall. In the embodiment illustrated, two anchoring holes 11 are shown, but it is feasible that the hanger body 1 has only one anchoring hole 11 to receive only one screw 3 for fixing the hanger to the wall. Also defined in the hanger body 1 is a positioning hole 12 for properly positioning the decorative cover 2 to the hanger body 1. The hanger body 1 is also provided with a pair of snap-on notches 13 at opposite edges 14 of a surface of the hanger body 1 opposing the wall to which the hanger is mounted.

The decorative cover 2 has a back face opposing the hanger body 1, especially the upper section thereof, and a positioning pin 22 receivable in the positioning hole 12 of the hanger body 1, two clamping walls 24 that are opposite to and spaced from each other for receiving the hanger body 1 therebetween and respectively engaging the edges 14 of the hanger body 1, an upper support block 21, and a lower support block 27 are formed on the back face of the cover 2. The cover 2 also has a flange (not labeled) formed on the back face and extending along a circumference thereof and the flange has an opening 20 formed at a lower side of the cover 2 and corresponding in position and size to the hanger body 1. The opening 20 is delimited by opposite ends of the flange and each of the ends forms a snap-on projection 23 receivable in and engageable with a corresponding one of the snap-on notches 13 of the hanger body 1.

The back face of the cover 2 forms a slot 25 adjacent to and extending along each clamping wall 24 at the outer side of the clamping wall 24 that is away from the edge 14 of the hanger body 1 with which the clamping wall 24 engages. A rounded chamfer or a rib 26 is formed on the back face of the cover 2 and extending along the inner side of each clamping wall 24 and connecting between the clamping wall 24 and the back face of the cover 2. In case the cover 2 is made by plastic molding, the arrangement of the slot 25 along the outer side of each clamping wall 24 and the rib or rounded chamfer 26 along the inner side of the clamping wall 24 allows the clamping wall 24 to inwardly converge after the molded cover 2 is cooled down and thus, the clamping walls 24 form an angle for inwardly engaging the edges of the hanger body 1 and thus clamping the hanger body 1.

Also referring to FIG. 2, the cover 2 is removably mounted to the hanger body 1 by inserting the positioning pin 22 of the cover 2 into the positioning hole 12 of the hanger body 1 and the snap-on projections 23, which are made resiliently deformable, sliding over the edges 14 of the hanger body 1 and engaging the snap-on notches 13 whereby the clamping walls 24 clamps onto the edges 14 of the hanger body 1 from with the upper and lower support blocks 21, 27 abutting against the hanger body 1. The snap-on projections 23 can forcibly disengage from the snap-on notches 13 to allow the cover 2 to separate from the hanger body 1 for replacement. This allows a reduction of the manufacturing costs.

Further referring to FIG. 3, to mount the hanger to a wall or a fixture 4, the hanger body 1 is put against the fixture 4 and the screws 3 are inserted through the anchoring holes 11 to tighten onto the fixture 4 thereby fixing the hanger body 1 to the fixture 4. The cover 2 is then mounted to the hanger body 1 in the way described above. The cover 2 can be shaped and sized to cover and shield the screws 3 that fix the hanger body 1 to the fixture 4.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the hanger body 1, where an additional section forming an additional hook is mounted to a top end of the upper section of the hanger body 1 so that there is a hook arranged at both the upper and lower ends of the hanger body 1. The cover 2 is attached to the hanger body 1 at a location away form both hooks.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 

1. A cover-replaceable hanger comprising a hanger body adapted to be positioned on a surface of an external fixture and having a first section mountable to the fixture surface by a fastener and a second section forming a hook, and a cover releasably attached to the hanger body, and characterized in that the hanger body forms an anchoring hole for extension of the fastener and a positioning hole and a pair of snap-on notches and the cover has a back face on which a positioning pin receivable in the positioning hole of the hanger body, two clamping walls spaced from each other for receiving the hanger body therebetween and upper and lower support blocks abuttingly engageable with the hanger body are formed, the back face of the cover also forming a flange extending along a circumference thereof and forming an opening corresponding in position and size to hanger body, the opening being defined by opposite ends of the flange and each end forming a snap-on projection receivingly engageable with the corresponding snap-on notch of the hanger body whereby when the cover is attached to the hanger body, the positioning pin is fit into the positioning hole, the snap-on projections engage the snap-on notches respectively and the clamping walls clamp opposite edges of the hanger body with the upper and lower support blocks abutting the hanger body.
 2. The cover-replaceable hanger as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an additional hook fixed to the hanger body opposite to the second section. 